Plate assemblies including floating wear linings for multi-disk brake systems and methods for reducing vibration in a multi-disk brake system

ABSTRACT

A plate assembly for a multi-disk brake system is provided. The plate assembly includes at least one of a pressure plate or an end plate and a floating plate wear liner mounted against the at least one of the pressure plate or the end plate. The floating plate wear liner is configured to contact a contact surface of an adjacent rotatable friction disk in response to the multi-disk brake system being actuated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of, and claims priority to and thebenefit of, U.S. Ser. No. 15/878,660 filed Jan. 24, 2018 and entitled“PLATE ASSEMBLIES INCLUDING FLOATING WEAR LININGS FOR MULTI-DISK BRAKESYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REDUCING VIBRATION IN A MULTI-DISK BRAKESYSTEM.” The '660 application is a divisional of, claims priority to andthe benefit of, U.S. Ser. No. 14/981,342 filed Dec. 28, 2015 andentitled “PLATE ASSEMBLIES INCLUDING FLOATING WEAR LININGS FORMULTI-DISK BRAKE SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REDUCING VIBRATION IN AMULTI-DISK BRAKE SYSTEM” which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,909,632 on Mar.6, 2018. The above referenced applications are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to aircraft brake systems. In particular,the disclosure relates to plate assemblies including floating plate wearlinings for multi-disk brake systems and methods for reducing vibrationin a multi-disk brake system.

BACKGROUND

Aircraft brake systems typically employ a series of friction disksforced into contact with each other to stop the aircraft. Friction diskssplined to a non-rotating wheel axle are interspersed with frictiondisks splined to a rotating wheel. The friction disks withstand anddissipate the heat (and thus may be referred to as a “heat sinkassembly”) generated from contact between one another during braking.During high speed landings and rejected takeoffs (“RTOs”), the amount ofheat and force generated can affect the friction disks that are made ofcarbon composite materials. Carbon composite materials are suited forhigh temperature use and are now the standard for friction disks inaircraft brake assemblies. However, carbon composite disks can beexpensive to manufacture, especially ones having the thickness desirablefor use on an aircraft. In addition, friction disks may be prone tovibration.

SUMMARY

A plate assembly for a multi-disk brake system is provided, inaccordance with various embodiments. The plate assembly includes atleast one of a pressure plate or an end plate and a floating plate wearliner mounted against the at least one of the pressure plate or the endplate. The floating plate wear liner is configured to contact a contactsurface of an adjacent rotatable friction disk in response to themulti-disk brake system being actuated.

A multi-disk brake system is provided, in accordance with variousembodiments. The multi-disk brake system comprises a plurality ofadjacent stator-rotor pairs comprising friction disks, a pressure plateat a first end of the plurality of adjacent stator-rotor pairs andadjacent a front rotor thereof, and an end plate at a second end of theplurality of adjacent stator-rotor pairs and adjacent an aft rotorthereof. A floating plate wear liner is mounted against at least one ofthe pressure plate or the end plate.

A method is provided for reducing vibration in a multi-disk brake systemcomprising a plurality of friction disks disposed between a pressureplate and an end plate, in accordance with various embodiments. Themethod comprises positioning a floating plate wear liner against afriction surface of at least one of the pressure plate or the end plateand mounting the floating plate wear liner against the friction surfaceof the at least one of the pressure or the end plate.

In any of the foregoing embodiments, the adjacent rotor comprises atleast one of a front friction disk or an aft friction disk of aplurality of friction disks disposed axially between the pressure plateand the end plate. The floating plate wear liner is concentrically andaxially constrained in position against the at least one of the pressureplate or the end plate. The floating plate wear liner mounted againstthe at least one of the pressure plate or the end plate substantiallymaintains a concentric relationship with the at least one of thepressure plate or the end plate. The floating plate wear liner furthercomprises an inner wall and an outer wall. The floating plate wear lineris mounted at the inner wall and the outer wall for radiallyconstraining the floating plate wear liner against the at least one ofthe pressure plate or the end plate to maintain the concentricrelationship with the at least one of the pressure plate or the endplate. The floating plate wear liner is mounted against the at least oneof the pressure plate or the end plate by a mechanical fastener. Themulti-disk brake system comprises a plurality of friction disks. Thefloating plate wear liner is mounted against an axial facing frictionsurface of the at least one of the pressure plate or the end plate. Thefloating plate wear liner has a wear surface configured to contact acontact surface of the adjacent rotatable friction disk. An adjacentrotor comprises at least one of a front rotor or an aft rotor of aplurality of friction disks disposed between the pressure plate and theend plate.

The forgoing features and elements may be combined in variouscombinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated hereinotherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation of thedisclosed embodiments will become more apparent in light of thefollowing description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter of the present disclosure is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. Amore complete understanding of the present disclosure, however, may bestbe obtained by referring to the detailed description and claims whenconsidered in connection with the drawing figures, wherein like numeralsdenote like elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments, a multi-diskbrake system in an unactuated condition;

FIG. 2 illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments, a sectionalview of a first plate assembly including a pressure plate and a firstfloating plate wear liner mounted against the pressure plate by anexemplary mechanical fastener (a spring retention clip in the depictedembodiment) at a radially outer portion and a radially inner portion ofthe pressure plate and the first floating plate wear liner;

FIG. 3 illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments, anothersectional view of the pressure plate and the first floating plate wearliner, with the first floating plate wear liner mounted against thepressure plate by another exemplary mechanical fastener (a pair ofinternally-mounted wheel bearings in the depicted embodiment) at theradially outer portion and the radially inner portion of the pressureplate and the first floating plate liner;

FIG. 4 illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments, anothersectional view of the pressure plate and the first floating plate wearliner, with the first floating plate wear liner mounted against thepressure plate by a geometric interface extending between the outer walland the inner wall of the pressure plate and between a friction surfaceof the pressure plate and a surface of the first floating plate wearliner that is opposite the first floating plate wear liner wear surface;

FIG. 5 illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments, aperspective view of a second plate assembly comprising an end plate anda second floating plate wear liner mounted against the end plate by anexemplary spring retention clip;

FIG. 6 illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments, an enlargedview of the exemplary spring retention clip of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method for reducing vibration in amulti-disk brake system, in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of exemplary embodiments herein makes referenceto the accompanying drawings, which show exemplary embodiments by way ofillustration and their best mode. While these exemplary embodiments aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the inventions, it should be understood that other embodimentsmay be realized and that logical, chemical, and mechanical changes maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventions.Thus, the detailed description herein is presented for purposes ofillustration only and not of limitation. For example, the steps recitedin any of the method or process descriptions may be executed in anyorder and are not necessarily limited to the order presented.Furthermore, any reference to singular includes plural embodiments, andany reference to more than one component or step may include a singularembodiment or step. Also, any reference to attached, fixed, connected orthe like may include permanent, removable, temporary, partial, fulland/or any other possible attachment option. Additionally, any referenceto without contact (or similar phrases) may also include reduced contactor minimal contact.

Various embodiments are directed to plate assemblies including floatingplate wear linings for multi-disk brake systems and methods for reducingvibration in a multi-disk brake system. The floating plate wear liningsmay be mounted respectively against at least one of a pressure plate oran end plate of the multi-disk brake system such that floating platewear liner is radially and axially against the friction surface of theat least one of the pressure plate or the end plate to maintain aconcentric relationship therewith. By maintaining the floating platewear liner against the at least one pressure plate or end plate, andmaintaining the concentric relationship between the floating plate wearliner and the at least one pressure plate or end plate, the vibration ofthe multi-disk brake system is reduced according to various embodimentsas herein described.

Referring to FIG. 1, a multi-disk brake system 20 is illustratedaccording to various embodiments. The system may include a wheel 10supported for rotation around axle 12 by bearings 14. Axle 12 defines anaxis of multi-disk brake system 20 and the various components thereofdescribed herein, and any reference to the terms axis and axial mayinclude an axis of rotation defined by axle 12 or a dimension parallelto such axis. The wheel 10 includes rims 16 for supporting a tire (notshown), and a series of axially extending rotor splines 18 (one shown).The rotation of the wheel 10 is modulated by the multi-disk brake system20. The multi-disk brake system 20 includes a torque flange 22, a torquetube 24, a plurality of pistons 26 (one shown), a pressure plate 30, andan end plate 32. The torque tube 24 is an elongated annular structurethat includes a reaction plate 34 and a series of axially extendingstator splines 36 (one shown). The reaction plate 34 and stator splines36 may be integral with the torque tube 24 as shown in FIG. 1, orattached as separate components.

The multi-disk brake system 20 also includes a plurality of frictiondisks 38. The plurality of friction disks 38 includes at least onenon-rotatable friction disk 40 (also known as a stator 40), and at leastone rotatable friction disk 42 (also known as a rotor 42). The stators40 and rotors 42 may be located adjacent to one another in themulti-disk brake system 20, forming a plurality of adjacent stator-rotorpairs. While not illustrated for ease of illustration, the at least onestator 40 may further comprise a stator core with a floating stator wearliner on one or both sides thereof. The at least one rotor may furthercomprise a rotor core with a floating rotor wear liner on one or bothsides thereof. Each stator 40 and each rotor 42 includes an attachmentstructure. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, each of four stators 40 includesa plurality of stator lugs 44 at circumferentially spaced positionsaround stator 40 as an attachment structure. Similarly, each of fiverotors 42 includes a plurality of rotor lugs 46 at circumferentiallyspaced positions around rotor 42 as an attachment structure. In theembodiment of FIG. 1, pressure plate 30, end plate 32, and the pluralityof friction disks 38 are all annular structures made at least partiallyfrom a carbon composite material. In various embodiments, at least oneof the pressure plate 30 or the end plate 32 may be made from a ceramicmatrix composite (CMC) material.

The torque flange 22 is mounted to the axle 12. The torque tube 24 isbolted to the torque flange 22 such that a reaction plate 34 is near anaxial center of wheel 10. The end plate 32 is connected to a surface ofthe reaction plate 34 facing axially inward. Thus, the end plate 32 isnon-rotatable by virtue of its connection to the torque tube 24. Thestator splines 36 support the pressure plate 30 so that pressure plate30 is also non-rotatable. The stator splines 36 also support the stators40. The stators 40 engage stator splines 36 with gaps formed betweenstator lugs 44. Similarly, the rotors 42 engage rotor splines 18 withgaps formed between rotor lugs 46. Thus, the rotors 42 are rotatable byvirtue of their engagement with the rotor splines 18 of the wheel 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rotors 42 are arranged with the end plate 32 onone end (an aft end of the plurality of friction disks 38), the pressureplate 30 on the other end (a front end of the plurality of frictiondisks 38), and the stators 40 interleaved so that the rotors 42 aredirectly or indirectly adjacent to non-rotatable friction components.The pistons 26 are connected to the torque flange 22 atcircumferentially spaced positions around the torque flange 22. Thepistons 26 face axially toward wheel 10 and contact a side of thepressure plate 30 opposite the rotors 42. The pistons 26 may be poweredelectrically, hydraulically, or pneumatically.

Referring to FIG. 2, a first plate assembly 100 comprising the pressureplate 30 and a first floating plate wear liner 102 is illustratedaccording to various embodiments. In accordance with variousembodiments, the first floating plate wear liner 102 is mounted againstthe pressure plate 30. The first floating plate wear liner 102 isconfigured to contact a contact surface 104 of an adjacent rotor 42 awhen the multi-disk brake system is actuated. The first floating platewear liner 102 has a wear surface 106 configured to contact the contactsurface 104 of the adjacent rotor 42 a. The adjacent rotor comprises afront rotor 42 a (FIG. 1) of the plurality of friction disks 38 disposedbetween the pressure plate 30 and the end plate 32 in the multi-diskbrake system. The first floating plate wear liner 102 is concentricallyand axially constrained in position against the pressure plate 30. Thefirst floating plate wear liner 102 is mounted against an axial facingfriction surface 108 of the pressure plate 30. The first floating platewear liner 102 mounted against the pressure plate 30 substantiallymaintains a concentric relationship with the pressure plate 30, therebyreducing vibration of the multi-disk brake system during actuation. Thefloating plate wear liner is mounted at the inner wall and the outerwall for radially constraining the floating plate wear liner 102 againstthe pressure plate 30 to maintain the concentric relationship with thepressure plate 30. The first floating plate wear liner 102 may bemounted against the pressure plate 30 by a mechanical fastener such as aretention clip 103 (FIG. 2). In various embodiments as depicted in FIG.3, the first floating plate wear liner 102 may be mounted against thepressure plate 30 by a pair of internally-mounted wheel bearings 105, orthe like.

Referring now to FIG. 4, in various embodiments, a first plate assembly100A may comprise a floating plate wear liner 102 a mounted against apressure plate 30 a by a geometric interface 107 of the axial facingfriction surface 108 a of the pressure plate 30 a and the floating platewear liner 102 a. The first floating plate wear liner 102 a has a wearsurface 106 a configured to contact the contact surface 104 of theadjacent rotor 42 a in the same manner as first floating plate wearliner 102 is configured to contact the contact surface 104 of theadjacent rotor. As like numerals denote like elements, referencenumerals 30, 100, 102, 108 as used hereinafter respectively include likeelements 30 a, 100A, 102 a, and 108 a.

The surface of the first floating plate wear liner 102 opposite to thewear surface may have a profile and dimensions complementary to theprofile and dimensions of the friction surface of the pressure plate 30such that the wear surface and the friction surface mate to radially andaxially constrain the first plate assembly. As the pressure plate 30(and the end plate 32) only have one friction surface (as opposed to therotors and stators that have two opposing friction surfaces), there ismore space in the plate assemblies 100 (including 100A) and 200 forimproved mounting of a floating plate wear liner against the respectivepressure plate and/or end plate to radially and axially constrain thefloating plate wear liner against the respective pressure plate and/orend plate.

In various embodiments, the first floating plate wear liner 102 maycomprise an annular ring configured to contact the adjacent rotor 42 a(i.e., the front friction disk (FIG. 1) at a first frictional interface.In various embodiments, the floating plate wear liner may comprise asubstantially uniform thickness in an axial dimension. Each firstfloating plate wear liner 102 further comprises an outer wall and aninner wall extending between the wear surface and the opposite surface.

The pressure plate 30 and first floating plate wear liner 102 maycomprise the same or different materials. For example, in variousembodiments, the pressure plate 30 may comprise a first material such asa CMC material, and the first floating plate wear liner 102 may comprisea second material such as a carbon composite material. However, invarious embodiments, the pressure plate 30 and the first floating platewear liner 102 may both comprise a carbon composite material. Thefloating plate wear liner may comprise the same carbon compositematerial as the pressure plate 30 or a different carbon compositematerial as the pressure plate 30. In various embodiments, the materialof the pressure plate 30 may be selected for its structural properties,thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and/or oxidation resistanceproperties. In various embodiments, a material of first floating platewear liner 102 may be selected for its wear resistance and/or frictionalproperties. Thus, the first plate assembly 100 may contain thestructural advantages of the pressure plate 30 and the frictionaladvantages of the first floating plate wear liner 102.

In various embodiments, first floating plate wear liner 102 may bereplaceable, such that after floating plate wear liners 102 have beenworn below a suitable operational thickness, floating plate wear liners102 may be removed from pressure plate 30 and replaced by new orremanufactured wear liners. Use of first floating plate wear liner 102may provide various advantages during brake system maintenance. Forexample, the first floating plate wear liner 102 may be removed andreplaced without a need to remove and resurface or machine the pressureplate 30 or the adjacent rotor 42 a for continued operation after wearliner replacement. Moreover, use of the first floating plate wear liner102 at the first frictional interface (as the pressure plate 30 tends tomove more axially than any other disk in the multi-disk brake system andthus the adjacent rotor 42 a can become more misaligned than any otherfriction disk in the multi-disk brake system) may provide increasedtorsional damping relative to torsional damping that occurs at otherpositions in the multi-disk brake system, thereby significantly reducingvibration in the multi-disk brake system, particularly upon brakeactuation. The first floating plate wear liner at the first frictionalinterface reduces/distributes an initial torque spike upon the firstcontact of the pressure plate 30 with the adjacent rotor 42 a, such thatthe other friction disks in the multi-disk brake system have time tomake contact/nest prior to significant brake force.

Referring again to FIG. 1 and now to FIGS. 5 and 6, according to variousembodiments, the multi-disk brake system may additionally oralternatively comprise a second plate assembly 200 comprising the endplate 32 and a second floating plate wear liner 202. In accordance withvarious embodiments, the second floating plate wear liner 202 may bemounted against the end plate 32. Like the first floating plate wearliner 102, the second floating plate wear liner 202 is configured tocontact the contact surface 104 of the adjacent rotor 42 b in responseto the multi-disk brake system being actuated. The floating plate wearliner 202 has a wear surface 206 configured to contact the contactsurface 104 of the adjacent rotor 42 b. The adjacent rotor 42 bcomprises an aft rotor (FIG. 1) of the plurality of friction disksdisposed between the pressure plate 30 and the end plate 32 in themulti-disk brake system. The second floating plate wear liner 202 isconcentrically and axially constrained in position against the end plate32. The second floating plate wear liner 202 is mounted against an axialfacing friction surface 208 of the end plate 32. The second plate wearliner 202 mounted against the end plate 32 substantially maintains aconcentric relationship with the end plate 32, thereby reducingvibration of the multi-disk brake system during actuation. The secondfloating plate wear liner is mounted at the inner wall and the outerwall for radially constraining the second floating plate wear liner 202against the end plate 32 to maintain the concentric relationship withthe end plate 32. The second floating plate wear liner 202 may bemounted against the end plate 32 by a mechanical fastener such as aretention clip 203 (FIGS. 5 and 6), a pair of internally-mounted wheelbearings (similar to that shown in FIG. 3 for mounting the firstfloating plate wear liner 102 against pressure plate 30), or the like.In various embodiments, the second floating plate wear liner 202 may bemounted against the end plate 32 by a geometric interface in the samemanner as first floating plate wear liner 102 a is shown mounted againstthe pressure plate 30 a in FIG. 4.

In various embodiments, the second floating plate wear liner 202 maycomprise an annular ring configured to contact the adjacent rotor 42 b(i.e., the aft rotor) (FIG. 1). In various embodiments, the secondfloating plate wear liner 202 may comprise a substantially uniformthickness in an axial dimension. The end plate 32 and the secondfloating plate wear liner 202 may comprise the same or differentmaterials. For example, in various embodiments, the end plate 32 maycomprise a first material such as a CMC material, and the secondfloating plate wear liner 202 may comprise a second material such as acarbon composite material. However, in various embodiments, the endplate 32 and the second floating plate wear liner 202 may both comprisea carbon composite material. The second floating plate wear liner 202may comprise the same carbon composite material as the end plate 32 or adifferent carbon composite material as the end plate 32. In variousembodiments, the material of the end plate 32 may be selected for itsstructural properties, thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and/oroxidation resistance properties. In various embodiments, a material ofsecond floating plate wear liner 202 may be selected for its wearresistance and/or frictional properties. Thus, the second plate assembly200 may contain the structural advantages of the end plate 32 and thefrictional advantages of the second floating plate wear liner 202.

In various embodiments, the second floating plate wear liner 202 (aswell as those of the floating stator and rotor wear liners) may bereplaceable, such that after the second floating plate wear liner 202has been worn below a suitable operational thickness, the secondfloating plate wear liner 202 may be removed from end plate 32 andreplaced by new or remanufactured wear liners. Use of second floatingplate wear liner 202 may provide various advantages during brake systemmaintenance. For example, second floating plate wear liners 202 may beremoved and replaced without a need to remove and resurface or machinethe end plate 32 or the adjacent rotor 42 b for continued operationafter wear liner replacement.

While the first floating plate wear liner 102 has been described asmounted against the pressure plate 30 and the second floating plate wearliner 202 has been described as mounted against the end plate 32, it isto be understood that there may be only one floating plate wear linermounted against either the pressure plate 30 or the end plate 32 in themulti-disk brake system, according to various embodiments. Furthermore,as noted previously, the multi-disk brake system may or may not includefloating stator wear liners and/or floating rotor wear liners. Retentionaxially of the floating plate wear liners results in better retentionradially.

During aircraft braking, a torque may be applied to the floating platewear liners 102 and/or 202. For example, and with reference to FIG. 1, atorque may be applied by an adjacent rotatable brake system component,such as pressure plate 30 with rotor 42 a or end plate 32 with rotor 42b, during braking of a moving aircraft. The torque may cause a shearforce that, in the absence of a counteracting force, acts to rotatefloating plate wear liner relative to the adjacent rotor. Contactbetween the rotor contact surface and the wear surface of the respectivefloating plate wear liner may counteract an applied torque and providetorsional damping.

Referring now to FIG. 7, in accordance with various embodiments, amethod 150 for reducing vibration in the multi-disk brake system beginsby positioning the floating plate wear liner 102 and/or 202 against afriction surface of at least one of the pressure plate or the end plate(step 300) and mounting the floating plate wear liner against thefriction surface of the at least one of the pressure or the end plate(step 400) as previously described. More specifically, as notedpreviously, the floating plate wear liner may be mounted against thepressure plate 30 by the mechanical fastener such as the retention clip103 (FIG. 2) and/or against the end plate 32 by the mechanical fastenersuch as the retention clip 203 (FIGS. 5 and 6), the pair ofinternally-mounted wheel bearings 105 (FIG. 3), or the like. In variousembodiments, the floating plate wear liner may be mounted against thepressure plate and/or end plate by the geometric interface 107.

From the foregoing, it is to be appreciated that torsional damping isprovided by the first and/or second floating plate wear liners beingmounted respectively against the pressure plate and/or the end plate ofthe multi-disk brake system. As such, vibration of the multi-disk brakesystem is reduced.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. Furthermore, theconnecting lines shown in the various figures contained herein areintended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physicalcouplings between the various elements. It should be noted that manyalternative or additional functional relationships or physicalconnections may be present in a practical system. However, the benefits,advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that may cause anybenefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced arenot to be construed as critical, required, or essential features orelements of the inventions. The scope of the inventions is accordinglyto be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, in whichreference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one andonly one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.”Moreover, where a phrase similar to “at least one of A, B, or C” is usedin the claims, it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to meanthat A alone may be present in an embodiment, B alone may be present inan embodiment, C alone may be present in an embodiment, or that anycombination of the elements A, B and C may be present in a singleembodiment; for example, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C.Different cross-hatching is used throughout the figures to denotedifferent parts but not necessarily to denote the same or differentmaterials.

Systems, methods and apparatus are provided herein. In the detaileddescription herein, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “anexample embodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodiment described mayinclude a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but everyembodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature,structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarilyreferring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature,structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anembodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of oneskilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristicin connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitlydescribed. After reading the description, it will be apparent to oneskilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the disclosure inalternative embodiments.

Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the presentdisclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless ofwhether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited inthe claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under theprovisions of 35 U.S.C. 112(f), unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for.” As used herein, the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. A plate assembly for a multi-disk brake system,at least one of a pressure plate or an end plate; and a floating platewear liner mounted against the at least one of the pressure plate or theend plate via a geometric interface between the floating plate wearliner and one of the pressure plate or the end plate, the floating platewear liner configured to contact a contact surface of an adjacentrotatable friction disk in response to the multi-disk brake system beingactuated.
 2. The plate assembly of claim 1, wherein the adjacentrotatable friction disk comprises at least one of a front rotor or anaft rotor of a plurality of friction disks disposed axially between thepressure plate and the end plate.
 3. The plate assembly of claim 1,wherein the floating plate wear liner is concentrically and axiallyconstrained in position against the at least one of the pressure plateor the end plate.
 4. The plate assembly of claim 3, wherein the floatingplate wear liner mounted against the at least one of the pressure plateor the end plate substantially maintains a concentric relationship withthe at least one of the pressure plate or the end plate.
 5. The plateassembly of claim 4, wherein the floating plate wear liner furthercomprises an inner wall and an outer wall, wherein the floating platewear liner is mounted at the inner wall and the outer wall for radiallyconstraining the floating plate wear liner against the at least one ofthe pressure plate or the end plate to maintain the concentricrelationship with the at least one of the pressure plate or the endplate.
 6. The plate assembly of claim 1, wherein the pair ofinternally-mounted wheel bearings are at a radially outer portion and aradially inner portion of the pressure plate and the floating plate wearliner.
 7. The plate assembly of claim 1, wherein the multi-disk brakesystem comprises a plurality of friction disks.
 8. The plate assembly ofclaim 1, wherein the floating plate wear liner is mounted against anaxial facing friction surface of the at least one of the pressure plateor the end plate.
 9. The plate assembly of claim 1, wherein the floatingplate wear liner has a wear surface configured to contact the contactsurface of the adjacent rotatable friction disk.
 10. A multi-disk brakesystem comprising: a plurality of adjacent stator-rotor pairs comprisinga plurality of friction disks; a pressure plate at a first end of theplurality of adjacent stator-rotor pairs and adjacent a front rotorthereof; an end plate at a second end of the plurality of adjacentstator-rotor pairs and adjacent an aft rotor thereof; and a floatingplate wear liner mounted against at least one of the pressure plate orthe end plate via a geometric interface between the floating plate wearliner and one of the pressure plate or the end plate.
 11. The multi-diskbrake system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of friction disks aredisposed between the pressure plate and the end plate.
 12. Themulti-disk brake system of claim 10, wherein the floating plate wearliner is concentrically and axially constrained in position against theat least one of the pressure plate or the end plate.
 13. The multi-diskbrake system of claim 12, wherein the floating plate wear liner mountedagainst the at least one of the pressure plate or the end platesubstantially maintains a concentric relationship with the at least oneof the pressure plate or the end plate.
 14. The multi-disk brake systemof claim 13, wherein the floating plate wear liner further comprises aninner wall and an outer wall, wherein the floating plate wear liner ismounted at the inner wall and the outer wall for radially constrainingthe floating plate wear liner against the at least one of the pressureplate or the end plate to maintain the concentric relationship with theat least one of the pressure plate or the end plate.
 15. The multi-diskbrake system of claim 10, wherein the pair of internally-mounted wheelbearings are at a radially outer portion and a radially inner portion ofthe pressure plate and the floating plate wear liner.
 16. The multi-diskbrake system of claim 10, wherein the floating plate wear liner ismounted against an axial facing friction surface of the at least one ofthe pressure plate or the end plate.
 17. The multi-disk brake system ofclaim 10, wherein the floating plate wear liner has a wear surfaceconfigured to contact a contact surface of the adjacent rotor.
 18. Amethod for reducing vibration in a multi-disk brake system comprising aplurality of friction disks disposed between a pressure plate and an endplate, the method comprising: positioning a floating plate wear lineragainst a friction surface of at least one of the pressure plate or theend plate; and mounting the floating plate wear liner against ageometric interface of the friction surface of the at least one of thepressure or the end plate by a pair of internally mounted wheelbearings.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein mounting the floatingplate wear liner comprises mounting the pair of internally-mounted wheelbearings at a radially outer portion and a radially inner portion of thepressure plate and the floating plate wear liner.
 20. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the friction surface is axially facing and mountingthe floating plate wear liner comprises mounting the floating plate wearliner against the axially facing friction surface of the at least one ofthe pressure plate or the end plate.